Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, was born in 1877 and died in 1959. Early Life Hannay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 6 May 1877. His father, Surgeon-Major William Hannay of the Royal Horse Artillery, had several German business partners, and so Richard was brought up to fluent in the language. At the age of six he joined his father in South Africa, where he developed a respect for the local customs that would stay with him for the rest of his life. His career began in Damaraland, where he spent three years prospecting for copper. He worked primarily in the German area, and his fluency in the language stood him in quite good steed. He then became a prolific mining engineer, earning himself a small fortune in Bulawayo, before he turned to the military. When the First Matabele War broke out in 1893, Hannay, being in Zimbabwe at the time, was able to assist. Indeed, he also fought in the Second Matabele War (1896-1897) before joining the Light Horse Regiment and fighting in the Second Anglo-Boer War, from 1899 to 1901. After this, however, he left the front line to become an Intelligence Officer at Delagoa Bay. Towards the end of the War, Hannay was part of the small force that escorted Jan Smuts, a prominent statesman, to the peace conference. Although his plan to destroy an enemy village by sending a train loaded with explosives to it was unsuccessful, he was able to disguise himself as an Afrikaans-speaking wagon driver and transport Smuts to the meeting, in what was undoubtedly a highly essential event. The Thirty-Nine Steps Affair In 1914, Hannay returned to England. Unfortunately, the dullness of London society did not suit the man who was brought up in Africa, and after three months he resolved to leave the country. He was halted in this resolution, however, by the appearence of a man named Franklin P. Scudder. The man professed to have discovered an anarchist group called 'The Black Stone', who were planning to assassinate the Greek Premier Karolides. When Scudder was found stabbed four days later, with Hannay suspected for his murder, he was forced to go into hiding in his native Scotland, taking Scudder's notebook with him. The notebook was in cipher, and when Hannay cracked it (whilst hiding undercover in an inn in Galloway) he discovered that Scudder's story was untrue- that, in fact, the Black Stone was a group trying to smuggle information out of Britain, which was on the break of World War I. He also found repeated mention of 'Thirty-Nine Steps', although there was no indication as to what this was. On the run from the police, Hannay eventually makes his way to the home of Sir Walter Bullivant, a member of the foreign office who tells Richard some more militatary secrets. As a finale, Hannay cracks the 'Thirty-Nine Steps' clue and tracks the three members of the Black Stone, who, with the help of the British authorities. Eight weeks later, World War I breaks out, and Britain was able to retain its secrets. Hannay joined the New Army at the beginning of the First World War as a captain. He slowly worked up the ranks until he reached the level of Major, and, although he suffered wounds to the leg and neck at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, he was still able to undertake exemplary service in the field of action. The Greenmantle Incident In the November of 1915, Hannay was informed by Sir Walter Bullivant- whom he had met before- that the political situation in the Middle East was problematic, in that the Germans and the Turks were plotting to cause a religious upheaval. The only clue that they had were the words 'cancer' 'Kasredin' and 'v.I'. Hannay, with his friend, Sandy Arbuthnot, and an American agent, called John S. Blenkiron, accordingly joined the case, heading, respectively, to Lisbon, Asia Minor, and Germany. Hannay took the identity of Boer Cornelius Brandt, and met his old friend from Africa, Peter Pienaar. They decided to pose as two anti-British exiles fighting on the German side- a disguise which allows them to meet Colonel Ulric von Stumm, who, impressed by their political thinking, sends Pienaar away. Hannay, meanwhile, is introduced to the Kaiser, and hears of the mysterious Hilda von Einem. However, disaster fell; Stumm stated that he was about to send him back to England, and so he was forced to go on the run; catastrophically, the snowbound Germany caused him to catch Malaria. However, the solitude of the sickbed allowed him to realize that the v.I. was a reference to none other than Hilda von Einem. Cured, he met back up with Pienaar, and head to Constantinople, where they are saved from a mob by Blenkiron and Arbuthnot. The latter had discovered that 'Kasredin' referred to, in a typically oblique way, the religious prophet 'Greenmantle', who, when he appeared, would lead the Arabic culture to revolution. Accordingly, Hannay took up the identity of an American engineer named Hannau. With the help of Sandy, they find out that 'cancer' refers to Greenmantle's illness, and that a conflict between the Turks and the Russians willl shortly occur. They decide to go to Ezerum, so as to assisst in the battle. They are caught by Stumm, although, happily, they escape, and take with them some plans, which they realise detail the Turkish battlefront. Pienaar heads through the war-torn country to take them to the Russians, while Arbuthnot reveals that he had been masquerading as the dead Greenmantle. They entrench themselves in a suitably fortified hill, and hold off any enemy until dawn, when the Russians come to their aid. Hilda von Einem and Stumm are killed in the battle. His efforts in the conflict earned him a DSO and a CB. The Mr Standfast Episode After the Greenmantle incident, Hannay returned to the army and became a Brigadier-General, while Pienaar became a successful airman, to rival the likes of Biggles or G-8- however, he was eventually caught by the Germans. In 1917, the Secret Service called him out of uniform to hunt down a member of the Black Stone that had escaped. He adopted the disguise of Cornelius Brand, and attempted to find this recluse- only to track him down to the Swiss Alps. In an epic journey that involved a journey through mountainous terrain to Von Shwabing's house, he managed to track down the man. During this, Hannay met Mary Lamington, whom Hannay fell in love with, and eventually asked to marry. Alas, the danger was not yet over, as they were forced to go to the front line and lead a desperate battle against the German forces. As there was only one platoon, they were heavily weakened- tragically, even with reinforcements due any moment, a party of German planes flew over Hannay's position, being sure to bear news of the weak point if they had been allowed to return; one plane, piloted by the German Lensch, evaded them. Peter Pienaar, flying Archie Roylance's plane despite his bad leg, flew into him, bringing him down and killing himself in the process, but the day was saved. Category:People Category:Pages Category:Secret Agents and Spies Category:Scottish People Category:World War I Veterans